Muslims go to hell.

The Life of St. Francis Xavier Apostle of the Indies and Japan By Daniello Bartoli, J. P. Maffei, Frederick William Faber: "

"He particularly regretted the loss of two Moorish (Muslim) slaves who were in the skiff, because the loss of temporal life would lead them to eternal death."

Victories of the Martyrs (by St. Alphonsus de Liguori):

St. George.

July 27.

SPAIN was honored by the martyrdom of many Christians under the Moors, in the ninth century. Among these was Aurelius, who was born in Corduba, of an opulent and noble family. His father was a Mahomedan, and his mother a Christian; but having been left an orphan very young, he was reared by his aunt in the Christian religion. The Mahomedan books which the Moors made him read served only to convince him of the falsity of their sect, and to make him more enamoured of the religion of Jesus Christ. Urged by his relatives to marry, he espoused Natalia, a Christian virgin, remark able for her piety.

...

The holy monk answered: "Meanwhile, sister, I have earned this much for Christ;" and having raised himself up very much bruised, he was in that state presented with the rest to the governor, who asked them why they thus blindly ran to death, and made them promises of the most ample rewards if they would renounce Jesus Christ. They answered with one accord: "These promises can avail nothing. We despise this present life, because we hope for a better one. We love our faith, and abhor every other religion." Hereupon the governor sent them to prison, and having found them constant in their faith at the end of five days, condemned them all to death, with the exception of George. But the holy monk having declared that Mahomet was a disciple of the devil, and that his followers were in a state of perdition, he also was condemned with his companions.

St. Alphonsus and EENS

p. 456-457 of The History of Heresies and Their Refutation:

10. They [Semipelagians] object, fourthly, and say: If even for the beginning of Faith preventing grace is necessary, then the infidels, who do not believe, are excusable, because the Gospel was never preached to them, and they, therefore, never refused to hear it. Jansenius (9) says that these are not excused, but are condemned, without having had any sufficient grace, either proximate or remote, to become converted to the faith, and that is, he says, in punishment of original sin, which has deprived them of all help. And those theologians, he says, who in general teach that these infidels have sufficient grace for salvation, some way or other have adopted this opinion from the Semipelagians. This sentiment of Jansenius, however, is not in accordance with the Scripture, which says that God " will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. ii. 4); " He was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world" (John, i. 9); " Who is the Saviour of all men, especially the faithful" (1 Tim. iv. 10); " And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world''(1 John, ii. 2); "Who gave himself a redemption for all" (1 Tim. ii. 6). From these texts Bellarmin (10) remarks, that St. Chrysostom, St. Augustin, and St. Prosper conclude that God never fails to give to all men sufficient assistance to work out their salvation, if they desire it. And St. Augustin (11), especially, and St. Prosper (12), express this doctrine in several parts of their works. Besides, this sentiment of Jansenius is in direct opposition to the condemnation pronounced by Alexander VIII., in 1690, on that proposition, that Pagans, Jews, &c., have no sufficient grace: " Pagani, Judxi, Haeretici, aliique hujus generis nulluru omnino accipiunt a Jesu Christo influxum: adeoque hinc recte inferes, in illis esse voluntatem nudam et inermem sine omni gratia sufficiente." Neither does it agree with the condemnation pronounced by Clement XI. on two propositions of Quesnel (26, 29): " That there are no graces unless by Faith," and that "no grace is granted outside the Church."

Still we answer the Semipelagians, and say, that infidels who arrive at the use of reason, and are not converted to the Faith, cannot be excused, because though they do not receive sufficient proximate grace, still they are not deprived of remote grace, as a means of becoming converted. But what is this remote grace? St. Thomas explains it, when he says, that if anyone was brought up in the wilds, or even among brute beasts, and if he followed the law of natural reason, to desire what is good, and to avoid what is wicked, we should certainly believe either that God, by an internal inspiration, would reveal to him what he should believe, or would send someone to preach the Faith to him, as he sent Peter to Cornelius. Thus, then, according to the Angelic Doctor [St. Thomas], God, at least remotely, gives to infidels, who have the use of reason, sufficient grace to obtain salvation, and this grace consists in a certain instruction of the mind, and in a movement of the will, to observe the natural law; and if the infidel cooperates with this movement, observing the precepts of the law of nature, and abstaining from grievous sins, he will certainly receive, through the merits of Jesus Christ, the grace proximately sufficient to embrace the Faith, and save his soul.”

Pg. 634 - 635 The History of Heresies, and Their Refutation:

The devil always strives to deceive heretics, by suggesting to them that they can be saved in their belief. This was what Theodore Beza said to St. Francis de Sales, when hard pressed by him on the importance of salvation: "I hope to be saved in my own religion." Unhappy hope! which only keeps them in error here, and exposes them to eternal perdition hereafter, when the error cannot be remedied. I think the danger of eternal perdition, by dying separated from the Church, should be a sufficient motive to convert every heretic. It was this that made Henry IV. forsake Calvinism, and become a Catholic. He assembled a conference of Catholics and Calvinists, and after listening for a time to their arguments, he asked the Calvinistic doctors if it was possible a person could be saved in the Catholic faith; they answered that it was; "Then," said the King, " if the faith of the Roman Church secures salvation, and the Reformed faith is at least doubtful, I will take the safe side and become a Catholic."

All the misfortunes of unbelievers spring from too great an attachment to the things of this life. This sickness of heart weakens and darkens the understanding, and leads many to eternal ruin. If they would try to heal their hearts by purging them of their vices, they would soon receive light, which would show them the necessity of joining the Catholic Church, where alone is salvation. My dear Catholics, let us thank the Divine goodness, who, among so many infidels and heretics, has given us the grace to be born and live in the bosom of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and let us take heed and not be ungrateful for so great a benefit. Let us take care and correspond to the Divine grace, for if we should be lost (which God forbid), this very benefit of grace conferred on us would be one of our greatest torments in hell.

St. Leonard and EENS

St. Leonard of Port Maurice's sermon "On the Little Number of Those Who are Saved":

"Brothers, you must know that the most ancient belief is the Law of God, and that we all bear it written in our hearts; that it can be learned without any teacher, and that it suffices to have the light of reason in order to know all the precepts of that Law. That is why even the barbarians hid when they committed sin, because they knew they were doing wrong; and they are damned for not having observed the natural law written in their heart: for had they observed it, God would have made a miracle rather than let them be damned; He would have sent them someone to teach them and would have given them other aids, of which they made themselves unworthy by not living in conformity with the inspirations of their own conscience, which never failed to warn them of the good they should do and the evil they should avoid. So it is their conscience that accused them at the Tribunal of God, and it tells them constantly in hell, "Thy damnation comes from thee." They do not know what to answer and are obliged to confess that they are deserving of their fate.

Now if these infidels have no excuse, will there be any for a Catholic who had so many sacraments, so many sermons, so many aids at his disposal? How will he dare to say, "If God was going to damn me, then why did He create me?" How will he dare to speak in this manner, when God gives him so many aids to be saved? So let us finish confounding him.

You who are suffering in the abyss, answer me! Are there any Catholics among you? "There certainly are!" How many? Let one of them come here! "That is impossible, they are too far down, and to have them come up would turn all of hell upside down; it would be easier to stop one of them as he is falling in." So then, I am speaking to you who live in the habit of mortal sin, in hatred, in the mire of the vice of impurity, and who are getting closer to hell each day. Stop, and turn around; it is Jesus who calls you and who, with His wounds, as with so many eloquent voices, cries to you, "My son, if you are damned, you have only yourself to blame: Thy damnation comes from thee.' Lift up your eyes and see all the graces with which I have enriched you to insure your eternal salvation. I could have had you born in a forest in Barbary; that is what I did to many others, but I had you born in the Catholic Faith; I had you raised by such a good father, such an excellent mother, with the purest instructions and teachings. If you are damned in spite of that, whose fault will it be? Your own, My son, your own: "Thy damnation comes from thee.'

St. Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney and EENS

The Curé of Ars had an interview one day with a rich Protestant. The servant of God did not know that he had the misfortune to belong to a sect, and spoke to him, as he was accustomed to do, of our Lord and the saints with the warmest effusion, ending by putting a medal into his hand. The other said, on receiving it:

"M. le Curé, you are giving a medal to a heretic — at least, I am a heretic only from your point of view. Notwithstanding the difference of our belief, I hope we shall both be one day in heaven."

The good Curé took his hand, and fixing on him his eyes, which expressed his lively faith and his burning charity, he said, in a tone of deep compassion and tenderness: "Alas, my friend, we shall be united above only inasmuch as we have begun to be so upon earth; death will make no change. Where the tree falls, there it lies."

"M. le Curé, I trust in Christ, who said, 'He who believeth in Me shall have eternal life.'"

"Ah! my friend, our Lord also said other things. He said that whoever would not listen to the Church should be regarded as a heathen. He said that there was to be but one flock and one shepherd, and He appointed St. Peter to be the head of that flock." Then, speaking in a more gentle and insinuating voice, "My friend, there are not two ways of serving our Lord — there is only one good way; and it is to serve Him as He wishes to be served." Thereupon the good Curé disappeared, leaving that man penetrated with a salutary uneasiness, the forerunner of divine grace, by which he was afterwards happily overcome.

http://books.google.com/books?id=-QEDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA168&dq=I+am+a+heretic+from+your+point+of+view.+vianney&as_brr=1

Blessed Caius of Korea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Caius_k 

(Note: I am the user Caius_k and I am the one who created the Wikipedia page on Blessed Caius of Korea and translated the Korean source into English under the section "Complete Text of the References")

(Note: This admirable story of a truth-seeker miraculously finding the true religion is very similar to that of St. Justin which I noted on this blog) 

Blessed Caius of Korea (1571-1624) is the 128th of the 205 martyrs of Japan^[1] that Pope Pius IX beatified in 1867, after he had canonized 26 martyrs of Japan in 1862. A 19th century French Catholic missionary, Charles Dallet, wrote of him: "His history proves, in a striking way, that God would rather make a miracle than to abandon an infidel who follows the lights of his conscience, and seeks the truth with an upright and docile heart."^[2]

Contents [hide] 1 His Life 2 References 3 Complete Text of the References 3.1 A letter written by a missionary of Japan (translated from the Korean which was in turn translated from a European language) about Blessed Caius 3.2 St. Alphonsus Liguori 3.3 Charles Dallet 3.3.1 English Translation 3.3.2 French Original 3.4 Le martyologe de l'église du Japon

[edit] His Life

Caius was born in Korea and was given to a Buddhist monastery by his parents. He left the monastery because he could not find the peace that he wanted there. He went into a mountain to live as a hermit, and found a cave of a tiger, which he lived with. The tiger did not harm Caius, and later went away to find another dwelling.^[3] Caius exerted himself all kinds of mortification; he only ate what was necessary to preserve his life.^[4] One night, while in meditation, a man of majestic aspect appeared to him^[5], and said to him:

"Take courage; within one year you will traverse the sea, and, after much work and fatigue, you will obtain the object of your desire."

The same year, in 1592, Japan invaded Korea, and Caius was made a prisoner.^[6] While going to Japan, they suffered a shipwreck at Tsushima island,^[7] and Caius escaped to the shore. Allured by the austere life of the Buddhist monks, he thought he found what he sought for many years, and withdrew himself in one of the most famous pagodas of Kyoto. It didn't take long until he felt that he could not find the peace that he wanted there. This caused him a so great sorrow that he became ill. During his illness, it seemed to him that he saw the pagoda all on fire, then a child of a charming beauty appeared to him and comforted him^[8], saying,

"Fear no more, you are close to obtaining the happiness you desire."

He found himself cured of his illness after the dream^[9] and left the temple and went back to his master, who introduced him to a Christian, who in turn introduced him to the Jesuit priests. He was converted and received baptism immediately. While he was instructed, one of the Fathers showed him a tableau representing Our Lord, at which Caius exclaimed^[10],

"Oh! Voila! Here is who appeared to me in my cave, and who foretold all that happened to me."

He served the sick, especially the leprous.^[11] In 1614, he went to the Philippines with a general of an army of Japan who was exiled for the faith, in order to work as a servant for the general. After the death of the general, he went back to Japan, and began again his functions of catechist. He was a great help to the missionaries by preaching in his native language to the Koreans who were brought to Japan after the war.^[12] In November 15th, 1624, he was burned at the stake with James Coici, a Japanese Catholic.^[13][14]

[edit] References

1. ^ List of Martyrs of Japan
2. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6 "Son histoire prouve, d'une manière éclatante, que Dieu ferait un miracle plutôt que d'abandonner un infidèle qui suit les lumières de sa conscience, et cherche la vérité d'un cœur droit et docile."
3. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6 "He withdrew into solitude to meditate with more ease on this happiness which he sought. He had as a dwelling only a cave, which he shared with a tiger, which occupied it before him. This wild animal respected its guest; it even yielded the cave to him some time after, and withdrew elsewhere."
4. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6 "The young recluse in the single view of preserving his innocence, exerted all kinds of mortifications; he abstained from all that was not absolutely necessary to the life."
5. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6 "Une nuit qu'il était en méditation, un homme d'aspect majestueux lui apparut, et lui dit : « Prends courage; dans un an tu passeras la mer, et, après bien des travaux et des fatigues, tu obtiendras l'objet de tes désirs. »"
6. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6 "This same year, the Japanese entered Korea, and the young recluse was made a prisoner."
7. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6 "Le vaisseau qui le transportait au Japon ayant fait naufrage près de l'île Tsoutsima..."
8. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6
9. ^ St. Alphonsus Liguori, Victories of the Martyrs (1954) pg. 394-395 "One day during sleep it seemed to him that the house was on fire: a little while afterwards a young child of ravishing beauty appeared to him, and announced to him that he would soon meet what he desired; at the same time he felt himself quite well, though he had been sick. Desparing of seeing among the bonzes the light for which he was longing, he resolved to leave them."
10. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6
11. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6 "...was devoted to the care of the patients, especially the leprous ones."
12. ^ A letter from a missionary of Japan: "He preached not only to the Japanese, but also to the many Koreans--who are here by the war that ended three years ago--in his native language, which was a great blessing for us." "일본인 뿐 아니라 3년 전에 끝난 전쟁으로 많은 조선인이 있어 그들에게 자국말로 설교를 하여 우리들로써는 큰 행복이었다" http://www.catholictimes.org/news/news_view.cath?seq=27387
13. ^ St. Alphonsus Liguori, Victories of the Martyrs (1954) pg. 393-395 "I refrain from speaking of those martyrs whose combats resemble one another too much, so that the narrative may not become irksome to the reader. I cannot, however, pass over in silence those whose history contains certain particular circumstances. Such is the martyrdom of James Coici and of Caius, both having been burnt for the faith at Omura in 1625 [sic]."
14. ^ Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6 "The September of 1624...The 5th of November of the same year, the young Korean Caius was burned at the stake...."

[edit] Complete Text of the References

[edit] A letter written by a missionary of Japan (translated from the Korean which was in turn translated from a European language) about Blessed Caius

"Caius the Korean could have stayed in Japan, but he volunteered to be banished with the feudal lord to work as his servant. Born in Korea at 1571, his adopted parents gave him to a temple. While living as a Buddhist monk and then a hermit in a cave, in 1592 he was made a captive and brought to Kyoto. His master was a compassionate person, allowing Caius enter a temple of Kyoto. But in here Caius could not find peace of soul and consequently fell into distress and became ill. Caius went back to his master, was introduced to a Christian and was baptized at the Church of Kyoto. Afterwards he worked as an exemplary novice brother at the Society of Jesus. He preached not only to the Japanese, but also to the many Koreans--who are here by the war that ended three years ago--in his native language, which was a great blessing for us." 이 조선인 가이오는 일본에 머물 수도 있었지만 스스로 자진하여 영주의 봉사자로 추방되는 길을 택하였다」. 이어 「가이오는 1571년에 조선에서 태어났는데 양친은 그를 사원에 바쳤다. 불승으로서, 은둔자로서 동굴생활을 하고 있던 중, 1592년 포로가 되어 교토에 끌려왔다. 그의 주인은 애정 깊은 사람이어서 교토의 어느 사원에 들어갈 수 있게 하였다. 그러나 그는 여기서도 결코 영혼의 안식을 얻을 수가 없어 고뇌에 빠져 병에 걸렸다. 가이오는 다시 전 주인을 찾아가 기리시탄을 소개받아 교토의 교회에서 세례를 받았다. 그 후 예비수사로 예수회 수도원에서 생활의 모범을 보였다. 일본인 뿐 아니라 3년 전에 끝난 전쟁으로 많은 조선인이 있어 그들에게 자국말로 설교를 하여 우리들로써는 큰 행복이었다」라고 말하고 있다. 가이오는 예수회의 전도사로서의 일을 오사카에서 시작하여 사카이와 가나자와에서 봉사하다가 추방의 무리에 합세하였다. 그 후 가이오는 다시 일본에 잠입하여 순교하게 된다. http://www.catholictimes.org/news/news_view.cath?seq=27387

[edit] St. Alphonsus Liguori

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Victories of the Martyrs (1954) pg. 393-395

I REFRAIN from speaking of those martyrs whose combats resemble one another too much, so that the narrative may not become irksome to the reader. I cannot, however, pass over in silence those whose history contains certain particular circumstances. Such is the martyrdom of James Coici and of Caius, both having been burnt for the faith at Omura in 1625 [1624].

James was arrested for having lodged a missionary. Caius, on learning that James, his friend, was in prison, went thither to speak to him; and as the guards opposed his entrance, he opened a passage for himself by main force. In punishment for this insolence he was held a prisoner, and the lieutenant of the governor had him punished so severely that his face was black and blue. The lieutenant then told him that he could not save him from the chastisement that he merited unless he would promise to teach no more the Christian doctrine, as he had been in the habit of doing. Caius pleaded in excuse that he had consecrated his life to the instruction of his neighbor. The lieutenant nevertheless, as he took a liking to him, wished to set him at liberty; but Caius said to him while leaving the prison: " Do not think that I shall stop coming here; I will come to serve the prisoners, cost what it may." At these words the lieutenant changed his mind, and ordered him to be put in irons.

The governor having arrived at Omura from Nangasaki, ordered Caius to be brought before him; he promised that the past would be forgotten if he would bind himself no more to instruct the Christians. Caius again protested that it was a work of charity, which he could not give up. Thereupon the governor remanded him to prison, threatening that he would have him burnt alive. In fact, a short time afterwards he, with his friend James, was condemned to death by fire. They gayly walked to the place of execution, singing the litany of the saints. When they arrived, Caius broke away from the hands of his guards, and ran to embrace the stake that was destined for him; James in his turn did the same. They were then tied, and fire was set to the funeral pile, Caius knelt down in the middle of the flames, and while thanking God in a loud voice for having found him worthy to die as he had desired, he expired. James was also kneeling in the middle of the fire; when his cords had been consumed he arose as if he wished to speak to those present, but as his strength failed him he again knelt down, and died while invoking Jesus and Mary.

I must relate here the conversion of Caius. He was a native of Corea. Although brought up in paganism, he conceived so ardent a desire for the salvation of his soul that he retired into the woods so as better to think of the means to attain it.

Corea having fallen into the hands of the Japanese, our young solitary was made a slave and transported to Japan, where he begin to examine what sect of bonzes he should embrace. In the mean time he retired to their principal house at Meaco. One day during sleep it seemed to him that the house was on fire: a little while afterwards a young child of ravishing beauty appeared to him, and announced to him that he would soon meet what he desired; at the same time he felt himself quite well, though he had been sick. Desparing of seeing among the bonzes the light for which he was longing, he resolved to leave them. Scarcely had he left the house when he met a Christian, to whom he made known his mental troubles. The Christian having explained to him some truths of our faith, he was filled with admiration, and went to the house of the missionaries to become more thoroughly instructed. After receiving baptism Caius consecrated himself unreservedly to the service of GOD and to the instruction of the idolaters, and martyrdom put him in possession of the sovereign happiness which he was seeking."

[edit] Charles Dallet

Dallet, Charles. Histoire de l'Église de Corée 1874. p. 6

[edit] English Translation

"The young Korean Caius was burned at the stake at Nangasaki. His history proves, in a striking way, that God would rather make a miracle than to abandon an infidel who follows the lights of his conscience, and seeks the truth with an upright and docile heart. Born some time before the invasion of the Japanese, he as a youth had an extreme desire to arrive at the true happiness, i.e. with a happiness which did not have an end. He withdrew into solitude to meditate with more ease on this happiness which he sought. He had as a dwelling only a cave, which he shared with a tiger, which occupied it before him. This wild animal respected its guest; it even yielded the cave to him some time after, and withdrew elsewhere.

The young recluse in the single view of preserving his innocence, exerted all kinds of mortifications; he abstained from all that was not absolutely necessary to life. One night in which he was in meditation, a man of majestic aspect appeared to him, and said to him:

"Take courage; within one year you will pass the sea, and, after many work and fatigues, you will obtain the object of your desire."

This same year, the Japanese entered Korea, and the young recluse was made a prisoner. The vessel which transported him to Japan having been shipwrecked close to the Tsushima island, Caius escaped to the shore; those who led the vessel probably perished in the floods. At all events, he recovered his freedom. Allured by the austere life of the bonzes, he believed to have found what he sought since so many years, and withdrew himself in one of the most famous pagodas of Kyoto.

But it didn't take a long time for him to realize his error; these idolatrous monks were certainly something less than perfect men. This mistake caused him a so great sorrow that he fell sick from there. During his illness, it seemed to him to see the pagoda all on fire, then a child of a charming beauty appeared to him and comforted him:

"Fear no more", he told him, "you are close to obtaining the happiness you desire."

He was not yet cured when he abandoned the Buddhist monastery. The very same day, he met a Christian with whom he told his sorrows and his adventures; this one brought him at once to the college of Jesuits, where one informed him of the mysteries of the religion. As his heart was already prepared to receive the divine inspiration, he believed without hesitating, tasted without sorrow holy morality of the Gospel, and asked for baptism immediately. They did not think it fit to subject him to a longer test, and the grace of the sacrament produced in a soul laid out so well of the admirable effects. While he was instructed, one of the Fathers showed him a tableau representing Our Lord:

"Oh! here, he exclaimed, here is who appeared to me in my cave, and who predicted all that happened to me"

He was put to the missionaries and was devoted to the care of the patients, especially the leprous ones. There is no virtue in which this predestined soul has not set an example: mortifications almost excessive, charity for the unhappy ones, eager care for the missionaries, whose works and dangers he shared, zeal for the salvation of souls, etc... Nothing was above his powers when needed to testify for the recognition of a God who had conferred on him so many graces, even before he could know and appreciate His gifts. In 1614, he followed to the Philippines, Ukandono, a general of the armies of Japan, who was exiled for the faith. After the death of this great man, he went back to Japan, and took again his functions of catechist.

Persecution taking everyday a more alarming character, he believed himself obligated to redouble his fervor; he multiplied his austerities and his prayers. God rewarded him so much for his virtues by a glorious martyrdom. The neophyte having gone one day, according to his habit, to visit the confessors of the faith, declared himself Christian and catechist; he was stopped at once and led in the prisons of Nangasaki, where he had to suffer much. He submitted with admirable constancy."

[edit] French Original

"...le jeune Coréen Caïo fut brûlé vif à Nangasaki. Son histoire prouve, d'une manière éclatante, que Dieu ferait un miracle plutôt que d'abandonner un infidèle qui suit les lumières de sa conscience, et cherche la vérité d'un cœur droit et docile. Né quelque temps avant l'invasion japonaise, il éprouva dès son jeune âge un désir extrême de parvenir au vrai bonheur, c'est-à-dire à un bonheur qui n'eût point de fin. Il se retira dans une solitude pour méditer plus à son aise sur cette félicité qu'il cherchait. Il n'avait pour habitation qu'une caverne, qu'il partageait avec un tigre qui l'occupait avant lui. Ce féroce animal respecta son hôte ; il lui céda même la caverne quelque temps après, et se retira ailleurs. Le jeune solitaire dans l'unique vue de conserver son innocence, s'exerçait à toutes sortes de mortifications ; il s'abstenait de tout ce qui n'était pas absolument nécessaire à la vie.

Une nuit qu'il était en méditation, un homme d'aspect majestueux lui apparut, et lui dit :

« Prends courage; dans un an tu passeras la mer, et, après bien des travaux et des fatigues, tu obtiendras l'objet de tes désirs. »

Cette même année, les Japonais entrèrent en Corée, et le jeune solitaire fut fait prisonnier. Le vaisseau qui le transportait au Japon ayant fait naufrage près de l'île Tsoutsima, Caïo se sauva à la côte ; ceux qui le conduisaient périrent probablement dans les flots. Quoi qu'il en soit, il recouvra sa liberté.

Séduit par la vie austère des bonzes, il crut avoir trouvé ce qu'il cherchait depuis tant d'années, et se retira dans une des plus célèbres pagodes de Méaco. Mais il ne fut pas longtemps san s'apercevoir de son erreur ; ces religieux idolâtres n'étaient rien moins que des hommes parfaits. Cette méprise lui causa un si grand chagrin qu'il en tomba malade. Pendant sa maladie, il lui sembla voir la pagode tout en feu, puis un enfant d'une beauté ravissante lui apparut et le

consola :

« Ne crains pas, lui dit-il, tu es à la veille d'obtenir ce bonheur tant désiré. »

Il n'était pas encore guéri, qu'il abandonna la bonzerie. Le jour même, il rencontra un chrétien à qui il raconta ses peines et ses aventures; celui-ci l'amena sur-le-champ au collége des Jésuites, où on l'instruisit des mystères de la relion. Comme son cœur était déjà préparé à recevoir la divine menée, il crut sans hésiter, goûta sans peine la sainte morale l'Évangile, et demanda aussitôt le baptême. On ne pensa pas levoir le soumettre à une plus longue épreuve, et la grâce du sacrement produisit dans une âme si bien disposée des effets admirables.

Pendant qu'on l'instruisait, un des Pères lui montra

un tableau représentant Nôtre-Seigneur:

« Oh ! voilà, s'écria-t-il, voilà celui qui m'a apparu dans ma caverne, et qui m'a prédit tout ce qui m'est arrivé. »

Il se mit à la suite des missionnaires el se consacra au soin des malades, surtout des lépreux. Il n'est point de vertu dont cette âme prédestinée n'ait donné l'exemple : mortifications presque excessives, charité pour les malheureux, soins empressés pour les missionnaires, dont il partageait les travaux etles dangers, zèle pour le salut des âmes, etc... Rien n'était au-dessus de ses forces, lorsqu'il fallait témoigner de la reconnaissance pour un Dieu qui l'avait prévenu de tant de grâces, avant même qu'il pût connaître et apprécier ses dons. En 1614, il suivit aux Philippines, Ukandono, général des armées du Japon, qui était exilé pour la foi. Après la mort de ce grand homme, il retourna au Japon, et reprit ses fonctions de catéchiste. La persécution prenant tous les jours un caractère plus effrayant, il se crut obligé de redoubler de ferveur; il multiplia ses austérités et ses oraisons. Dieu récompensa tant de vertus par un glorieux martyre. Le néophyte étant allé un jour, selon sa coutume, visiter les confesseurs de la foi, se déclara lui-même chrétien et catéchiste ; il fut arrêté sur-le-champ et conduit dans les prisons de Nangasaki, où il eut beaucoup à souffrir. On le condamna à être brûlé à petit feu, supplice horrible, qu'il subit avec une constance admirable."

Non-Catholics who follow their conscience and is ignorant of Catholicism will be miraculously led to Catholicism and will be saved as Catholics

Fr. Francisco de Vitoria, O.P., a famous 16th century Dominican theologian:

"And Gerson (De spirituali vita animae, lect.) 4) appears to be of the same view. "Doctors are unanimous," says he, "that in matters of the divine law there is no room for invincible ignorance, seeing that God will always help him who does what in him lies, and He is ready to enlighten the mind as far as will be necessary for salvation and the avoidance of error." And Hugo de Sancto Victore ([11]bk. 2, pt. 6, ch.5) says that none is excused by ignorance for breach of the command to receive baptism, for he could have heard and known, had it not been for his own fault, as was the case with Cornelius (Cornelius the Centurion) (Acts, ch. 10). Source

Adrian gives precision to this doctrine, in his Quodlibeta, qu. 4. "There is," says he, "a two-fold distinction in matters of the divine law. There are some matters to the knowledge of which God does not oblige every one universally, such as the nice problems of the divine law and difficulties with regard to this law and with regard to Holy Scripture and the Commandments; in these matters there may well be a case of invincible ignorance, even if a man does all that in him lies. There are other matters
to the knowledge of which God obliges all men generally, such as the articles of faith and the universal commandments of the law; of these it is true, as the doctors assert, that ignorance thereof is not excused. For if any one does what in him lies, he will be illuminated of God through either the doctor that is within him or a doctor from without."

... "But the mistake which the doctors in question [doctors holding opposite view to the above] make is in thinking that when we postulate invincible ignorance on the subject of baptism or of the Christian faith, it follows at once that a person can be saved without baptism or the Christian faith, which, however, does not follow. For the aborigines to whom no preaching of the faith or Christian religion has come will be damned for mortal sins or for idolatry, but not for the sin of unbelief, as St. Thomas (Secunda Secundae, as above) says, namely, that if they do what in them lies, accompanied by a good life according to the law of nature, it is consistent with God's providence and He will illuminate them regarding the name of Christ, but it does not therefore follow that if their life be bad, ignorance or unbelief in baptism and the Christian faith may be imputed to them as a sin.

St. Thomas Aquinas:

St. Thomas Aquinas, De Veritate, 14, A. 11, ad 1: Objection- “It is possible that someone may be brought up in the forest, or among wolves; such a man cannot explicitly know anything about the faith. Answer: It is the characteristic of Divine Providence to provide every man with what is necessary for salvation… provided on his part there is no hindrance. In the case of a man who seeks good and shuns evil, by the leading of natural reason, God would either reveal to him through internal inspiration what had to be believed, or would send some preacher of the faith to him…”[cclvi]

St. Thomas Aquinas, Sent. II, 28, Q. 1, A. 4, ad 4: “If a man born among barbarian nations, does what he can, God Himself will show him what is necessary for salvation, either by inspiration or sending a teacher to him.”[cclvii]

St. Thomas Aquinas, Sent. III, 25, Q. 2, A. 2, solute. 2: “If a man should have no one to instruct him, God will show him, unless he culpably wishes to remain where he is.”[cclviii]

The paragraphs below are from here: (8. HOW ALMIGHTY GOD LEADS TO SALVATION THOSE WHO ARE INCULPABLY IGNORANT OF THE TRUTHS OF SALVATION)

Almighty God can also, by a miracle, carry a priest to a person invincibly ignorant and living up to the dictates of his conscience; or he can carry such a person to a priest—or make use of an angel or a saint to lead him to the way of salvation.

Among the holy souls of past centuries who have been loaded with signal favors and privileges by Almighty God, we must place, in the first rank, Mary of Jesus, often styled of Agreda, from the name of the place in Spain where she passed her life. The celebrated J. Goerres, in his grand work, "Mysticism," does not hesitate to cite as an example the life of Mary of Agreda, in a chapter entitled, "The Culminating Point of Christian Mysticism." Indeed, there could not be found a more perfect model of the highest mystic ways.

This holy virgin [Ven. Mary of Agreda] burned with a most ardent love for God and for the salvation of souls. One day, she beheld in a vision all the nations of the world. She saw the greater part of men were deprived of God's grace, and running headlong to everlasting perdition. She saw how the Indians of Mexico put fewer obstacles to the grace of conversion than any other nation who were out of the Catholic Church, and how God, on this account, was ready to show mercy to them. Hence she redoubled her prayers and penances to obtain for them the grace of conversion. God heard her prayers. He commanded her to teach the Catholic religion to those Mexican Indians. From that time, she appeared, by way of bilocation, to the savages, not less than five hundred times, instructing them in all the truths of our holy religion, and performing miracles in confirmation of these truths. When all were converted to the faith, she told them that religious priests would be sent by God to receive them into the Church by baptism. As she had told, so it happened. God, in his mercy, sent to these good Indians several Franciscan fathers, who were greatly astonished when they found those savages fully instructed in the Catholic doctrine. When they asked the Indians who had instructed them, they were told that a holy virgin appeared among them many times, and taught them the Catholic religion and confirmed it by miracles. (Life of the Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda, § xii.) Thus those good Indians were brought miraculously to the knowledge of the true religion in the Catholic Church, because they followed their conscience in observing the natural law.

Something similar is related in the life of Father J. Anchieta, S. J. (chap. vi.). One day, this great man of God entered the woods of Itannia, in Brazil, without any assignable motive and, in fact, as if he were guided by another. At a little distance he perceived an old man seated on the ground and leaning against a tree. "Hasten your steps," cried the old man when he saw the father, for I have been expecting you for some time." The saintly missionary asked him who he was, and from what country he had come. "My country," said the old man, "is beyond the sea." He added other things, which led the father to infer that he had come from a distant province, near Rio de la Plata, and that he had either been conveyed by supernatural means from his own country to the place where he then was, or that, by the direction and guidance of heaven, he had been led thither with great labor and fatigue, and had placed himself where the father found him, in full expectation of the accomplishment of the divine promise. Father Anchieta then asked him why he had come to that place. "I have come hither," he answered, "in order that I might be taught the right path." This is the expression which the Brazilians use when they speak of the laws of God and of the way to heaven. Father Anchieta felt convinced, from the answers of the old man, that he had never had more than one wife, had never taken up arms except in his own just defense, and that he had never grievously transgressed the law of nature. He perceived, moreover, from the arguments of the old man, that he knew many truths relative to the Author of nature, to the soul, and to virtue and vice. When Father Anchieta had explained to him several of the mysteries of our holy religion, he said: "It is thus that I have hitherto understood them, but I knew not how to define them." After having sufficiently instructed the old man, Father Anchieta collected some rain-water, from the leaves of the wild thistles, baptized him, and named him Adam. The new disciple of Christ immediately experienced in his soul the holy effects of baptism. He raised his eyes and hands to heaven, and thanked Almighty God for the mercy which he had bestowed upon him. Soon after, he expired in the arms of Father Anchieta, who buried him according to the ceremonies of the Church.

[similar story: St. Columba preached and worked miracles among the Picts, and, though he spoke by an interpreter, he made converts. One day on the banks of Loch Ness he cried: Let us make haste to meet the angels, who are come down from heaven and await us beside the death-bed of a Pict, who has kept the natural law, that we may baptize him before he dies." He was then aged himself, but he outstripped his companions, and reached Glen Urquhart, where the old man expected him, heard him, was baptized, and died in peace. And once, preaching in Skye, he cried out, "You will see arrive an aged chief, a Pict, who has kept faithfully the natural law; he will come here to be baptized and to die;" and so it was. New Catholic World (1867) pg. 668

[St. Columba said: "My sons, today you will see an ancient Pictish chief, who has kept faithfully all his life the precepts of the natural law, arrive in this island ; he comes to be baptised and to die." Immediately after, a boat was seen to approach the shore with a feeble old man seated in the prow, who was recognized as the chief of one of the neighboring tribes. Two of his companions took him up in their arms and brought him before the missionary, to whose words, as repeated by the interpreter, he listened attentively. When the discourse was ended the old man asked to be baptised ; and immediately after breathed his last breath, and was buried in the very spot where he had just been brought to shore.

[At a later date, in one of his last missions, when, himself an old man, he travelled along the banks of Loch Ness...he said to the disciples who accompanied him, " Let us make haste and meet the angels who have come down from heaven, and who wait for us beside a Pict who has done well according to the natural law during his whole life to extreme old age : we must baptise him before he dies." Then hastening his steps and outstripping his disciples, as much as was possible at his great age, he reached a retired valley, now called Glen Urquhart, where he found the old man who awaited him. Here there was no longer any need of an interpreter, which makes it probable that Columba in his old age had learned the Pictish dialect. The old Pict heard him preach, was baptised, and with joyful serenity gave up to God the soul which was awaited by those angels whom Columba saw. Montalembert, Charles. Saint Columba: Apostle of Caledonia (1868) pg.63-64]

About these miraculous conversions Dr. O. A. Brownson well remarks:—
"That there may be persons in heretical and schismatical societies, invincibly ignorant of the Church, who so perfectly correspond to the graces they receive, that Almighty God will, by extraordinary means, bring them to the Church, is believable and perfectly compatible with the known order of his grace, as is evinced by two beautiful examples recorded in Holy Scripture. The one is that of the eunuch of Candice, Queen of Ethiopia: he, following the lights that God gave him, though living at a great distance from Jerusalem, became acquainted with the worship of the true God, and was accustomed to go from time to time to Jerusalem to adore him. When, however, the Gospel began to be published, the Jewish religion could no longer save him; but being well disposed, by fidelity to the graces he had hitherto received, he was not forsaken by Almighty God; for when he was returning to his own country from Jerusalem, the Lord sent a message by an angel to St. Philip to meet and instruct him in the faith of Christ, and baptize him (Acts, viii. 26). The other example is that of Cornelius, who was an officer of the Roman army of the Italic band, and brought up in idolatry. In the course of events, his regiment coming to Judea, he saw there a religion different from his own,—the worship of one only God. Grace moving his heart, he believed in this God, and following the further notion's of divine grace, he gave much alms to the poor, and prayed earnestly to this God to direct him what to do. Did God abandon him? By no means; he sent an angel from heaven to tell him to whom to apply in order to be fully instructed in the knowledge and faith of Jesus Christ, and to be received into his Church by baptism. Now, what God did in these two cases he is no less able to do in all others, and has a thousand ways in his wisdom to conduct souls who are truly in earnest to the knowledge of the truth, and to salvation. And though such a soul were in the remotest wilds of the world, God could send a Philip, or an angel from heaven, to instruct him, or, by the superabundance of his internal grace, or by numberless other ways unknown to us, could infuse into his soul the knowledge of the truth. The great affair is, that we [the non-Catholics] carefully do our part in complying with what he gives us; for of this we are certain, that, if we be not wanting to him, he will never be wanting to us, but, as he begins the good work in us, will also perfect it, if we be careful to correspond and to put no hindrance to his designs.

Their life had only been preserved by God until they could receive baptism and hence be saved:

St. Francis Xavier, May, 1546: "Here (Ambon Island of Indonesia) there are altogether seven towns of Christians, all of which I went through and baptized all the newborn infants and the children not yet baptized. A great many of them died soon after their baptism, so that it was clear enough that their life had only been preserved by God until the entrance to eternal life should be opened to them." Coleridge, Henry. The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier. (1872) pg. 375

Fr. De Smet, Dec. 9, 1845: “I have often remarked that many of the children seem to await baptism before winging their flight to heaven, for they die almost immediately after receiving the sacrament.” Laveille, Eugene. The Life of Father de Smet, S. J. (1915) pg. 93 "… over a hundred children and eleven old people were baptized. Many of the latter [the old people], who were carried on buffalo hides, seemed only to await this grace before going to rest in the bosom of God." Laveille, Eugene. The Life of Father de Smet, S. J. (1915) pg. 172

The Life of St. Isaac Jogues, p. 92: "The Huron sorcerers...claimed... the Blackrobes caused people to die by pouring water on their heads; practically everyone they baptized died soon after." Talbot, Francis. Saint Among Savages: The Life of Saint Isaac Jogues

" Among these people was a little child about one year old....It was happily baptized. God preserved its life only by a miracle, it would seem, so that it might be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and might bless His mercies forever." The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, pg. 51 Fr. Lalemant wrote: "...it has happened very often, and has been remarked more than a hundred times, that where we were most welcome, where we baptized most people, there it was in fact where they died the most ; and, on the contrary, in the cabins to which we were denied entrance, although they were sometimes sick to extremity, at the end of a few days one saw every person prosperously cured. We shall see in heaven the secret, but ever adorable, judgments of God therein. Meanwhile, it is one of our most usual astonishments and one of our most solid pleasures, to consider, in the midst of all those things, the gracious bounties of God in the case of those whom he wishes for himself; and to see oftener than every day his sacred and efficacious acts of providence, which so arrange matters that it comes about that not one of the elect is lost, though hell and earth oppose." The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, pg. 93

St. Francis Xavier and the Salvation Dogma

The Admirable Life of St. Francis Xavier by Orazio Torsellino (1632). pp. 325-326

"...These, and many other such things were heard with exceeding good liking, so as they were all easily satisfied. But that which troubled them most, was, that God seemed neither bountiful nor indifferent, who having care of all other Countries besides Iaponia [Japan], had never declared himself to the Iaponians, before Francis his coming thither. Who likewise, had damned to the pains of Hell, all those who had not worshiped the God they knew not; and had permitted also their ancestors, who never enjoyed that heavenly light, to be carried headlong thither? Concerning this point Francis made it clear unto them, that the divine Law, which of all others is the most ancient, was imprinted in the hearts of men. For the Iaponians even before they had their laws from the Chinese, knew by the light of reason that it was an heinous offense to kill a man, to steal, forswear, and other things which were forbidden by the divine law. Whereupon if anyone had committed any of these crimes, he was tormented with the worm of conscience, which took as it were revenge of that wickedness. This (quotes he) we may undoubtedly find to be true, in a solitary man, who although he should be brought up in the wilderness, without any learning or knowledge of human law, would not for all that be ignorant of the divine law, concerning Man-slaughter, Theft, Perjury, and other the like things. And if this were so, even among barbarous nations, what should we think of those, that were civil, and well trained up? Should not they therefore be justly punished, who did violate the divine law, which was ingrafted in them by nature? which if they had observed, they should infallibly have been illuminated with light from heaven.

After he had satisfied them with this answer, they began by little and little to put themselves under the wholesome yoke of Christ. Whereupon within the compass of two months, there were well near 500 citizens baptized, who bewailing the state of their children, parents, kindred, and Ancestors, demanded often of Xaverius, whether there was yet any hope, or means to deliver them out of everlasting misery? But he with tears in his eyes affirming no, exhorted them, that they who had the divine light & salvation now offered them, should be so much the more thankful to God for it, and should mitigate the feeling of others' ruin, with the hope of their own salvation: so that Patience might make that lighter, which they could not avoid.

Source:
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